Top 8 Reasons Passport Photos Get Rejected (and How to Fix Them)
Indian Passport Seva rejects thousands of photos daily. Here are the eight most common reasons and how to avoid each.
Passport Seva officers manually verify every uploaded photo against a strict checklist. If your application is on hold for "photo not as per specifications", it's almost certainly one of these.
1. Wrong dimensions
Photos must be exactly 350 × 350 pixels. Anything else gets rejected at upload.
Fix: Use our Indian Passport Photo Resizer — it crops to the exact pixel size automatically.
2. File size out of range
The photo must be under 100 KB. Above that and the upload form silently fails.
Fix: Our resizer binary-searches JPEG quality so the file lands in the 10-100 KB band.
3. Off-white or coloured background
Even a light-blue wall reads as "not white" to a human verifier. The background must be pure white.
Fix: Use the Background Remover and pick the white preset.
4. Face too small or too large
Your face must occupy roughly 70-80% of the frame. Selfie-style crops with extra body get rejected.
Fix: Crop tightly to the head and shoulders before resizing.
5. Glasses with reflections
Glare on the lenses obscures the eyes — auto-reject.
Fix: Remove glasses for the photo. If you must wear them, ensure no reflections.
6. Smiling or open mouth
Indian passport photos require a neutral expression with mouth closed.
7. Headwear (except religious)
Caps, hats, and headphones are not allowed. Religious head coverings are permitted as long as the face from forehead to chin is fully visible.
8. Old photo
Passport Seva requires a photo taken within the last 6 months.
Once your photo passes these checks, our resizer handles dimensions and file size in one click.